


Vita in Motu

by Natelley



Series: Audere Est Facere [2]
Category: Night at the Museum (Movies)
Genre: Alternate History, Angst, Archaeology, Domestic Fluff, Egyptology, F/F, F/M, First Dates, Fluff and Humor, Gen, Immortality, M/M, Magic, Romance, romcom
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-14
Updated: 2020-11-25
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:41:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,768
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24724705
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Natelley/pseuds/Natelley
Summary: Extra Scenes from Audere est Facere which occurs within the life span of Rowena Elizabeth Clarke.These excerpts are not entirely important to the story but enables to build a better picture of our characters in the main storyline.Things I may cover:- Rowena's time in Egypt with Howard and Robert- Rowena's struggles during Victorian Britain- Her time with Ahkmenrah at Cambridge- Moments with the Exhibits between 2006-2009 and 2010-2014- A Coffeeshop AU that I never imagined doing
Relationships: Ahkmenrah (Night at the Museum)/Original Character(s), Ahkmenrah (Night at the Museum)/Original Female Character(s), Howard Carter/Evelyn Carnarvon, Larry Daley/Rebecca Hutman, Original Male Character(s)/Original Female Character(s)
Series: Audere Est Facere [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1787626
Kudos: 3





	1. Vita in Motu

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, welcome to Vita in Motu. This is basically where all of my uncut chapters and pieces will live as they don't exactly tie to the main plotline but gives more depth between characters. I'll make sure to add when the chapter should be placed in the timeline of the story, as well as which point of view it is. 
> 
> Most of these will act as one-shots but I decided to put it into a sort of side story as if these stories are being told in a diary or a memory. Some will just not fit and just be for fun. Hope you guys enjoy! :)

**Vita in Motu  
  
**

_Life in Motion - Latin_

_  
_**~oOo~**

_**'** The life of Rowena Elizabeth Clarke spans across over two hundred years and between many names. There may have the big things in her life such as finding the tomb of the mummies in the early 20th Century, or her life to change the world in the Victorian age; or her involvement in the second world war. But no one has ever known the little things she had lived through her life. He daily hobbies and her interests.  
  
_

_To others not so close to her knew her as one of the famous women to have lived in her times. She may have won awards for her hard work and dedication to history.  
  
_

_To the ones that Rowena loved, she was a friend, a sister, a lover and a mother. She was a protector despite how she appeared. But that didn’t stop her from caring those she met and grew to know of. Her heart was what made her strong.  
  
_

_I compiled these stories of some parts of her life in order to take a glimpse of the little things that happened to her._

_  
Dedicated to Rowena herself.  
  
_

_My **Mer Ek  
  
**_

_May our love transcend across time._   
  


_- **A. Clarke-Bates.'**_


	2. Rowena's Journal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ahkmenrah reads the journal Rowena gives him as a parting gift in Chapter 31: Leaving New York.
> 
> He reads it a week since she left, as he wanted to give himself some space to breathe and get used to not have her around. 
> 
> And so he reads, the last fifty-seven years in the eyes of Joanna Bates who chooses a new name and identity for herself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I said I would put things in here, but in fact, I've been too invested in writing the main part of the story that I haven't had time to add extra parts on here. As I'm taking a bit of a break, thought this would be the perfect time to add this in. Something which I wrote as a part but decided to remove.
> 
> Hope you guys enjoy it. :)

** Ahkmenrah **

**_2010 - New York City_ **

It had been a few weeks since Rowen Bates left the continent to return to her life back in London.

The first few days were not too kind to Ahkmenrah, for he kept to himself throughout the evenings, cooped up in his exhibit, or spending his time learning Egyptian Arabic (a new language which Rowen left books for him). He had recently finished all the books given to her which consisted of the history of the past fifty-eight years, which contented him to completing a third of the collection.

Once days turned into weeks, Ahkmenrah gradually slipped into a routine of making sure to spend his moments with his friends, helping Larry and his hobby - the normality which he did many times before. Though without Rowen's presence making japing remarks or thoughtful looks: he felt a little bit alone for once. There was not anyone to discuss languages or history of recent events or any philosophical notions.

Apart from Larry's assistant: Kai Winterson. During the night programme, once the visitors began dispersing out of the museum, he and Kai loved to talk about history and philosophy - though with a strain that he was indeed an 'actor' instead of himself. It never much mattered, however, as their conversation held nothing to their own personal background other than their experiences. He just needed to make sure that he didn’t slip anything odd as Ahkmenrah learnt that casual public execution jokes are not something the modern world appreciated.

Tonight was one of those nights, where the museum had nothing to do apart from making sure the exhibits stayed within the buildings. McPhee popped round from time to time to see if there were any changes but rather than staying the whole night: he would excuse himself to go home and work on some 'papers'.

Ahkmenrah knew from Rowen that their director was apparently seeing someone, which gave others several raised eyebrows.

Once McPhee had hailed farewell and left out of the revolving doors: he and Larry wandered the halls for a final check until he bid the Guardian of Brooklyn that he would spend the evening alone. Larry nodded and notified him that he would be down in the main hall if he were needed.

Ahkmenrah arrived at his exhibit and greeted the Jackals once more. Making his way to the outer edges of the exhibit, he took out several books and pens underneath a hidden compartment of the glass cabinet of several vases.

As he was picking up the language book and pen, his eyes spotted the small leather-bound book stashed at the back of the drawer. Ahkmenrah contemplated for a moment before he changed his decision and placed the language book and pen back and replaced it with the other.

With a quiet creak of the drawer, Ahkmenrah held what seemed to be an ordinary book with several wears and tears on it. This diary was far from ordinary.

This held another life inside.

It was Rowen's journal showing her life from the past fifty or so years. The parting gift she gave him before she left that day. He was still bewildered as to why she gave away something so precious to her. To him, he was the man that still held some unease with her character and background - but still loved her more than anything he could imagine.

But it meant more to him. Rowen Bates trusted him with her identity, and it showed that there were love and kindness between the two of them.

He sat on his favourite bench, got himself comfortable and opened the first page. His fingers brushed over the crisp of the paper. The smell of smoke and perfume lingered, the same scent in which Joanna used to wear a while ago.

> _Property of R.E.C_

‘ _Her first name_ ,’ He thought, impressed at the swirling calligraphy printed on. He was enamoured by how much their writing appeared to be. It was not like his quick Egyptian and definitely not like Hieroglyphics. He struggled writing the alphabet when Rowen first taught him. Though now, it was second nature to him. Especially with the ballpoint pens these days, they didn’t need an inkpot to dip the nib in every few words.

On the next page was the first extract and Ahkmenrah delved into the eyes of one Heka Guardian;

* * *

Date: 1952

' _He left just this morning._

_They put him in a van, along with the rest of the artefacts for the American Museum of New York. I think I was the only one trying not to cry as I watched a sarcophagus hauled into the back of the van with manpower. I was afraid they were going to drop it, along with him inside. That would have made it even worse. In fact, I would’ve been furious if they did. It’s a priceless coffin for god’s sake!_

_Luckily, the process went smoothly. Peggy was too tired and dozed off when I left her in my office. I stood out on the street as it drove off, the only moment when I realised how again that I became the fool._

_He was gone, and it was not even a proper goodbye. He couldn't wave back or tell me that it was okay. Okay that he was going away. Okay, that we would see each other again._

_When the evening came it felt odd to find the place silent. Merenkahre and Shepseheret weren't walking around together. Peggy wasn't playing with Ahkmenrah out in the courtyard._

_Right now, I am writing this in my boarding house, getting ready to pack up to go back to London. Peggy is off for another term in school and I am being offered a position as a conservationist at the British Museum._

_Maybe someday I will come back here to Cambridge. Maybe go back to university again to brush up on my techniques. Or maybe do another degree. I want to visit Ahkmenrah when I have a chance, but with issues being heard from America I think it's best to wait._

_He'll wait for me._

_Or maybe not after what I did. But I think with positivity. I try to, that is, as I know I am not always the most optimistic person ever._

_-J. Bates '  
  
  
_

**~oOo~  
  
  
**

Date: 1955

' _I told Peggy about Harry, which perhaps wasn't the best thing to say._

_Well, I've never been good at these things. Telling the bad news to people. My own daughter hates me for keeping the secret, that her father would never come back. That she would grow up fatherless, that she's the only one out of the rest of the children with no dad. People sympathise with her; a lot of mothers have approached me which surprised me as well. They thank Harry for serving in the war even if they don't know who I am or who he was, only that he helped win the war for the allies._

_When I think about it, it makes me want to laugh at myself. How can people find this good? That their families died to fight against our 'enemies'. Enemies who have families, children and wives and husbands. They don't see that people suffer despite being alive._

_They expect me to sit about and mourn because I’m a widow, a mother and still working the most boring job they could ever think of. They all do, even the friends I make throughout my life. My work colleagues and students. They don’t think I should be here, and that I should become a full housewife._

_They don’t know what I went through. Because it’s unbelievable. That a woman of colour, and a woman of high class, would put down her life and fight in a war. Our war. Not mine or theirs – ours._

_Living to tell the tale is the worst thing to ever feel. I feel like I am living in a fantasy, where everyone is safe and happy. But my mind, I still hear the bombs coming off. The guns and bullets piercing the air like pops._

_I'm living in a parade. One that would never stop and would never reveal the realities of the celebrations._

_They call it shellshock in the first war. Soldiers would come home, and they would change. More erratic and quiet at the same time. A storm that never went away, always brewing. I sometimes feel that I’m still in that storm, even if I know I don’t remember it entirely. Of course not, I was a baby._

_But we go on. And even if I am this, some part of me will be left from where Harry died._

_-J. Bates '  
  
  
_

**~oOo~  
  
  
**

Date: 1961

' _Peggy and I are arguing...again._

_It's been coming more often more than usual, and I thought it would be best to let out my anger by writing. Who does she think she is? She is fifteen for god's sake and she thinks she has her whole life mapped out for her! She wants to go and travel. Go to Asia and try out different cultures despite all the things going on around with the Russians._

_I know that she is turning 18 in a couple of years. The same age I got married for the first time. But I want her to not rush things. To think things through and get an education first. Go to Oxford or Cambridge or any university. She has the potential to be a good scientist or a historian and she wants to throw it away to run away because a boy in her class told her too._

_Yes, I'm being hypocritical. I am 185 years old, who has married twice and widowed twice._

_She is sixteen and at this moment I'm not sure if she'll ever age. (Which I will yet to know in the next years, if so. I would probably need to inform her.)_

_Maybe I'm just being overprotective. I just want her to be safe and happy with her own choices. I don't want her to feel suffocated by how others look at her. She's confident - which she got it from Harry - and she's good at standing up to herself. But whenever I can't get to her, I feel like I can't protect her. That I can't aid her with the unexpected._

_I think it's time I should tell her of who I am. Maybe it will change things for her. To see the reason in her choices in life._

_-J. Bates ‘  
  
  
_

**~oOo~  
  
  
**

Date: 1963

' _I told Peggy who I was._

_That I wasn’t always Joanna Bates or Joanna Darcy._

_And that I had been Rowena Elizabeth Clarke. The adopted daughter of a duke and not the descendant of one._

_She didn't believe at first. Just like everybody else who I have told. I showed her the evidence, and that was when I opened up to her everything that I knew what was needed to be heard._

_I told her about my condition. How I got it, and how I tried so many years to discover the intent of my purpose with this golden coin. I told her that she didn’t have the condition I have._

_And about how I couldn't help but hate that I am practically watching my daughter grow older than me. Every day the thought began seeping into everyday life. And it hurts. I broke down then, and I apologised to her. All the things I’ve done. Not only for being a bad mother but being a mother that would eventually disappear for her own safety._

_Peggy reassures me that it's going to be okay. That we'll live through it. Make it go ahead. However, I can tell she is hurt. Maybe I should have told her sooner and not now. Not when she was grown up and has the world on her shoulders already._

_She then told me she had gotten into Oxford University for History, which is lovely news for me. My daughter is a grown-up now. And I dread to know what partner she decides to settle down with in the future._

_She is too much like him that I crave just to see Harry’s picture sometimes. Sometimes I forget faces nowadays. I only pick a handful to remember. Mostly those that are so dear to me. Like Harry, Howard, Robert, Evelyn and Ahkmenrah._

_I tell myself that my mind is not getting old but perhaps it is. Or I’m just exhausted._

_I'm planning to head out for a few years, planning a new expedition down near Euphrates river. Maybe if she chooses Archaeology with it, I can take her with me. I want to give her something. I want our relationship to start over, something which I and my own mother never got._

_-J. Bates ‘  
  
  
_

**~oOo~  
  
  
**

Date: 1969

' _We just watched the first man land on the moon._

_Me. A woman from the 18th century is watching a rocket go up to space when we were just discovering new ways to see the stars with telescopes._

_We watched it just in time when we got back from the expedition. Peggy hardly ever has time to sit down sometimes. Always leaping to do more work here and there. Especially with her research for her PhD has her cooped up in our London home._

_I don’t really have much to write other than how I am still amazed at everyday life. That I would never imagine living through two centuries. It has changed so much. I used to be frightened of horse riding on how fast they could go. With cars and planes and ships, it was a whole different world._

_When I first revealed to Howard and Robert, they always ask me what it was like to live through the Victorian age, how did I live through it with no automobiles or electricity or heating. All I say is that I lived in a much better condition than everybody else and that I shouldn’t answer any question. Yes, my life was difficult, but I was lucky. Lucky to be alive._

_Peggy asks me things as well if we aren’t constantly bickering or talking about work. She is fascinated with the women in history, drawn by many of the achievements I’ve heard and witnessed._

_And with the man on the moon. I hope one day there will be a woman in space as well. Just to tell the world and history that we’ve made it this far._

_-J. Bates '  
  
  
_

**~oOo~  
  
  
**

Date: 1970

' _We're off again. This time we're going to the east. It's rather scary actually. I've never been so far but I suspect Ahkmenrah never expected to go to New York._

_I wonder how he's doing? If he's met new people in the museum to talk to and pass the time._

_Despite everything going around me, there's always a moment in the day that I would think of him. The young king that changed the idea of magic for me. I missed our evenings together, learning new languages and sharing them. I miss laughing about the things that are new in our lives like television and gadgets._

_And I think Peggy misses him too. Even if she's too busy with her own dissertation. I'll be too young for her to be in the spotlight. Maybe it's time to change, only for a bit. To hide for a while. It's a little different now when you have a daughter who looks older than you. I wouldn't mind sitting still. I think I deserve it at some point._

_-J. Bates '  
  
  
_

**~oOo~  
  
  
**

Date: 1971

' _My best friend._

_My dear old Robert has passed away._

_I was able to attend the funeral, as he wanted to be buried in London with Josephine and Howard. But he died in New York, in a care home which his family placed him in. He has never been the same since Josephine passed, so I understood how he needed to be with people of his age._

_Thinking of him pains me._

_I already miss him. The times when we would just enjoy the peace and just tell each other stories. Along with Howard, Robert was my brother all but blood. How we would always discuss the most randomness things that would never relate to the first topic at hand. We would go punting despite my hatred of it, as I felt secure with the two._

_Now…they’re both gone._

_It’s only me._

_I-_

* * *

Ahkmenrah stopped reading and felt his cheeks wet from tears. ' _Oh Rowen...I'm so sorry_ ,’ He whispered to himself. He could not continue that page, due to how much it pained him.  
  
  


**~oOo~  
  
  
**

Date: 1975

_'Peggy is getting married._

_His name's Steven Everett. Charming man, and quite charismatic. A gentleman according to her but was not as good at dancing compared to his skills in the Military._

_It is weird though, watching your daughter get married but under an alias, having a person become Joanna from my estate._

_But it's fine. At least I'm here, watching my daughter grow from a girl who would never sleep unless she had a candle by her bed - into a beautiful and kind woman._

_I hope up there, Harry...that you are watching her. And how proud that our daughter picked a good man. You would have interrogated him relentlessly until you knew he was the right one._

_And Ahkmenrah, I think he would have wished to be here. Seeing the little girl now be the same height as him. He has always been the light in Peggy’s life. Even if it’s rare, she would always ask me if he was alright and I would say truthfully that I didn’t know. We could only hope that he was safe and happy._

_-J. Bates '  
  
  
_

**~oOo~  
  
  
**

Date: 1987

_'Today, I held my granddaughter for the first time._

_A granddaughter, can you believe it? After over 200 years I actually have a bloodline._

_Her name is Henrietta. Hettie for short._

_She's has a mixture of her father's and Peggy's appearance and personality, and she's a handful already by how she screams. I think she'll grow up to have good parents. Because I know that Peggy's learnt through my own mistakes. And I know Steven is a loyal and honourable man and a good father._

_She's going to be good, I assure her. They are both going to be good._

_-J. Bates ‘  
  
  
_

**~oOo~  
  
  
**

Date: 1992

_'I know I normally write in a journal whenever I gain a new name, but I thought it would benefit me to finally fill the empty pages._

_Maybe it’s too soon. But I decided to have my first name. Sort of._

_Rowen Bates has a nice ring to it._

_I returned to school again. I chose the same course to see if there have been any changes. It's still the same. I also made friends with this boy called Antonio. Reminded me of John Davinier. And another called Richard. Now he's a little bit of an arse but I think he's smarter than he thinks he is._

_I'm hoping to skip through the degree so I can give more time for the job opportunity at the British Museum. I miss the labs. The idea of teaching knowledge to people and to preserve things._

_-R. Bates '  
  
  
_

**~oOo~  
  
  
**

Date: 1994

_‘Why didn't she tell me? It's been eight months since her first hospital meeting, and she ignored it as just fatigue._

_Cancer. Cancer-_

He stopped and took a breath.

Is this what killed Peggy? An illness that cannot be cured by any healer or modern doctor? Ahkmenrah scrunched up his eyelids and fought away the tears. In one part in his mind, he told himself not to cry - that he should not cry once more for something that was so long ago. But in another, he felt that he had the right.

So, for the next five minutes, wiping his eyes and nose from tears: he continued reading. However, it would seem Rowen stopped writing on her journal after that day.

The next point was written recently. Still the same swooping calligraphy he knew from her.  
  
  


**~oOo~  
  
  
**

Date: 1999

_'I think it's time to pick up this journal again. And say the thing I've always wanted to say after the past five years._

_I've been mourning. But I couldn't mourn. Steven was mourning. Hettie just lost a mother. I just couldn't do it in front of them. In front of Hettie. She needs someone to keep the nightmares at bay. She's only eight for god's sake._

_She told me it was blood cancer. Leukaemia. She told me the full details, but I wasn’t really listening, as I was too shocked the fact that she was dying quicker than anyone else should be._

_We argued, and things just got too much that Peggy didn’t contact me. I tried my best, even Steven reasoned with me especially when Hettie was involved. I couldn’t let their family apart though. That was the important part._

_But Peggy ignored it. That stubborn girl. Even with the treatments, she continues to live like herself as if she wasn’t ill._

_I was confused at first. Until she told me. She told me that she needed to do everything she wanted before she could die, try and do as much as possible. So much that it involved finding women to date Steven, would you believe that?_

_Well. He was not pleased with it at all._

_It was there I knew I knew that they were truly the one for each other again. Their love was strong._

_But it didn’t reflect on the love my daughter had for her own daughter. With Peggy busy trying to do her work, I found out how much Hettie wasn’t really in the light in her plans. Sure, they would bond as a family but that was because Steven was there. Steven carried Hettie through, and perhaps even I did._

_When Peggy began to falter and was confined to her bed in the last months of her life was when I began to see the truth of what I thought was a perfect family. Hettie and Peggy loved each other, but I know it would not be as strong with the time left for them. I wished they had more time together. That they would finally have a strong bond, something which we never got until Peggy was an adult._

_On the day of her death, I visited her and finally sat down to tell her the rest of my life. The hardship and fun I had. But I told her that her father was proud of her, the things she had done in her life. Everything._

_And then she told me something I would never forget. Peggy wished for me to not remember her. To try and live as Rowen Bates and not as Joanna Bates._

_She wanted me to not live in pain. My daughter wished me to move on. How can I? I was watching my daughter die at such a younger age. She wasn’t in her nineties. She had a young daughter and a husband._

_Why is the world so cruel to me? Why? I don’t deserve this. I was happy and free._

_Now, I wish things never happened. That I could turn back the time and change this course._

_A year has passed and as head director of the British Museum, it is taking a toll on me. I know Antonio is trying to be helpful, but I think it's just the stress of it all. Richard's already in New York, with Ahk. I hope he isn't too surprised. Maybe I'll come and visit, see how everything is going._

_And things in the past are popping up. Like visions of New York and what seemed to be Central Park. It's very odd. Ahk was there, and so was a giant mammoth and a dinosaur. And a man in uniform who looked oddly like my dear old friend Robert._

_It was...hard to say: the most unbelievable thing I ever saw. And usually, I don't visualise anymore. I've longed experienced a vision ever since that day I found the Tablet. I don't know. Maybe I should have asked him years ago. What my visions meant._

_-R. Bates ‘  
  
  
_

**~oOo~  
  
  
**

There was one last entry. Though the ink was newer and instead of ink, it was a ballpoint pen.

* * *

Date: 2010

' _Ahk, I give you this journal for you read through. You say that we will tell our story and that our story will be heard someday. But maybe now, I want to tell you mine._

_I thought I was alone. That I couldn't find someone like me. Dead with a golden coin which you say it's a Wadjet key. The thing is: I found someone with the same key as me._

_Her name is Salma Atkins, she is of Middle Eastern descent. I'm not sure where she found it or where exactly she is from but by what she told me, she seemed to be much older than me. Perhaps a millennium older. She revealed herself to me, telling me that she felt my presence because of the magic properties of the Wadjet. I couldn't tell if she was lying or not, but she continued to tell me her story, and how much she wanted to help me._

_Truth is - trust is a fickle thing. I assure you that both of us understand what it is like to trust someone that tries to empathise with you. I learnt the hard way during the war._

_Do not trust Salma Atkins, Ahk._

_I know maybe you might not trust me but please: be aware of her presence in the museum. Keep the tablet safe. I sense the darkness in her. That she wasn't what she was; perhaps like Khafre but I guess a little less psychotic._

_Let Larry know of this, and perhaps Teddy and Sacagawea. They will understand the outcome. We are playing a dangerous game if Cecil's cult is involved._

_Or perhaps more are after the Tablet. I'm not sure if you know or if your parents know, but I understand if it isn't for anyone else's ears. However, I care about you, amicus meus and I wish this didn’t have to occur at such a time._

_Stay calm. Do not let her know that you know. Play into her game. It's like what I did, as a spy. She will try to play you. I know that she has a family, and I can deduce that she is trying her best to keep them from the darkness. She will try at some point to do it to us. I cannot let her divide us. Not now or ever._

_I'm sure as I write now that you miss me terribly. And I would say to you. I miss you ever so much, amicus meus. But never think it is forever. I will be back. I promise you._

_Yours,_

_Rowen. ‘_

* * *

Ahkmenrah closed the journal gently and looked up with a pondering gaze. ' _It would seem we have a potential ally...or enemy_.' He could not fully agree with Rowen just yet, knowing from his lessons as a king to wait before he judges someone. For now, he would keep an eye and ear for the certain woman. And keep a better guard on the Tablet.


End file.
